Prelude

On the march through the wolfswood, Stannis's army is increased in size by Houses Glover (along with their sworn houses), Mormont, and finally Karstark, led by castellan Arnolf Karstark. Unknown to Stannis, Arnolf is secretly working with House Bolton and during the final battle plans to turn his forces on Stannis.

Although Roose has the larger host, and his soldiers are far better armed and trained than the clansmen that make up a large part of Stannis's army, the loyalties of some of his forces are highly questionable, particularly the Manderlys, Whoresbane Umber, and the Hornwoods. Roose suspects that only the Freys, Dustins, and his own men would be truly loyal to him if word gets out that Bran and Rickon Stark are still alive.

Winterfell is overcrowded with forces, low on supplies, and on edge due to a series of murders with no confirmed suspects.

"Battle"

March on Winterfell

Stannis Baratheon and his host's march on Winterfell is delayed by a severe blizzard and numerous men are lost to starvation or the cold.[3][4] The last known report of Stannis's army's whereabouts is that he is at a crofters' village three days from Winterfell.[4][5][6]

Mors Umber's vanguard arrives at Winterfell

Using the snowstorm as cover, Mors has his lads dig pit traps near several of the Winterfell gates. The heavy blizzard allows Mors's boys to do this without the castle sentries seeing them. Mors then has his men sound horns hoping to draw out several of the castle forces in the traps, but the castle garrison is put on alert and mans the walls of Winterfell.

The Freys' presence increases tensions with the northerners as many had lost kin at the Red Wedding. Roose also sends out the forces of Lord Wyman Manderly as he does not trust the Manderly forces. By doing this Roose hopes that Stannis will be defeated without Bolton men suffering any casualties and if not, Roose hopes to weaken Stannis's forces in battle and in the process eliminate a potential future rival in Wyman. Ramsay Bolton follows not far behind, with a force of his own Dreadfort men. The absence of near 3,000 men in Winterfell also means that Roose also has an easier time managing food supplies to his forces.

The escape of "Arya Stark", however, leaves Ramsay in the castle with only a small force to retrieve his bride.

Command of the Freys passes to Ser Hosteen Frey

Aenys Frey is killed when the Freys stumble into one of Mors Umber's pit traps near the Hunter's Gate, meaning that the command of the Freys passes to Ser Hosteen Frey, who, while a capable swordsman, is not a clever commander.[7]

Stannis alerted to the planned treachery of Arnolf Karstark

Thanks to a letter from Jon Snow delivered by Tycho Nestoris, Stannis is made aware of the planned treachery of Arnolf Karstark. He has Arnolf and his son and grandsons arrested while disarming their forces.

Stannis prepares his host to met the Bolton vanguard in the village.[7]

Ramsay's Letter

At Castle Black, Jon Snow receives a letter in which Ramsay Bolton claims Stannis is dead and his army is broken. However, it is unknown if the letter's contents are true or if it was indeed written by Ramsay. Regardless, the letter galvanizes Commander Snow into breaking with tradition and forming an army of volunteers - watchmen and wildlings alike - to march on Winterfell and defeat the Boltons.[8]

Quotes

“

We all know what my brother would do. Robert would gallop up to the gates of Winterfell alone, break them with his warhammer, and ride through the rubble to slay Roose Bolton with his left hand and the Bastard with his right. I am not Robert. But we will march, and we will free Winterfell … or die in the attempt.[4]

References and notes

↑Stannis has 5,000 men after Deepwood Motte. He is later reinforced by 450 Karstarks, who are actually conspiring with Roose Bolton to turn on Stannis as soon as the battle starts, but are foiled before this could happen. Crowfood Umber lies outside of Winterfell waiting to join with Stannis with half of House Umber's strength, supposedly 400 men.

Interaction

Ads

Follow

Support

Amazon

Play

Tools

In other languages

This page was last modified 23:59, 18 June 2015 by A Wiki of Ice and Fire - A Song of Ice and Fire & Game of Thrones user Nihlus. Based on work by A Wiki of Ice and Fire - A Song of Ice and Fire & Game of Thrones users Rhaenys Targaryen and Nittanian and others.